(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
      Brazil captures South American Baseball-title
Nederlands
 EZEIZA, BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) -
Brazil has captured the title in the 15th edition of the Campeonato Sudamericano de Béisbol by winning the Final of the event on Saturday (November 12) against host Argentina with a 10-4 score.
Colombia won the Bronze Medal, thanks to a 10-0 shutout against Perú.
On Friday, Chile finished in fifth place by winning 9-1 against Bolivia.
The event was held in Estadio Nacional de Béisbol de Ezeiza, which is located in the city of Ezeiza, which is located within the Greater Buenos Aires-area, which comprises the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.
The first South American Championship was held in 1957.
Since then, eight more tournaments followed through 1973.
Hereafter, the next editions were organized in 2004 and 2005.
Another interruption followed, then the next four tournaments were played in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Argentina and Brazil reached the Final by winning the Semi-Finals on Friday.
Brazil then shutout Perú 12-0 to become the first finalist.
Later in the day, Argentina won 12-9 against Colombia in an exciting and suspenseful game that lasted ten innings.
Colombia led 2-1 in the fifth inning, but Argentina then rallied for five runs and went on to force extra innings.
In the Final, Brazil opened the score in the second inning.
With two outs and two runners on base, Felipe Talos delivered a runscoring single.
Two runs were added in the third at bat.
Brazil got runners on first and third base when Felipe Burin and Tiago Magalhães opened with singles.
A grounder by Allan Fanhoni then led to a run.
After next batter Rodney Hanaya walked, Iago Novaes Januario singled in the next run.
The latter played four years professional baseball in the organizations of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in respectively the Dominican Summer League (2010-2011) and the Venezuelan Summer League (2012-2013).
Brazil increased the lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded and after a pitching change, a run was scored when Pedro Okuda walked.
Herafter, two runs were scored on a single by Felipe Burin, who played professionally for four seasons (2009-2012) in the organization of the Seattle Mariners, all at the Rookie League-level.
Argentina then got back into the game by scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth inning to narrow the deficit to 6-4.
In the top of the seventh inning, Mauro Schiavoni led off with a single, then scored on an one-out triple by Juan Pablo Angrisano.
The latter then scored with two outs when Mauricio Costa also tripled.
In the eighth, Lucas Montalbetti led off with a walk for Argentina.
With one out, the team got runners on second and third base when an outfield-error followed on a single by Juan Carlos Martín.
Both scored when next batter Mauro Schiavoni reached on an error.
...Juan Pablo Angrisano hitting for Bologna...
...during the 2011 European Cup-tournament...
...in Amsterdam (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Several players on the Argentinian roster have Italian backgrounds.
Schiavoni and Angrisano were both born in Argentina, but also have played for National Teams of Italy and in the Italian leagues.
Schiavoni played in the Italian Serie A1 in the past and also played for the national Italian Junior Team during the 2003 European Junior Championship.
He played professionally in 2008 in the organization of the Minnesota Twins.
Veteran player Angrisano, who was born in Buenos Aires, played for the Italian National Team during the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, the 2009 World Championship and then won the 2010 European Championship with Italy in Germany.
In 2013, Angrisano won the South American Championship, while playing for Argentina.
The 36-year old Angrisano played several seasons at the highest level in Italy, including four for Fortitudo Bologna.
With this team, he won the European Cup - Final Four Qualifiers in 2009, 2010 and 2011 when the events were held respectively in Matino (Italy), Brno (Czech Republic) and Amsterdam (Netherlands).
In September of this year, Angrisano participated with the Brazilian National Team in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier.
Before the event, the team was labeled as a favorite, but was eliminated for the Final in which Israel was the surprising winner and defeated Great Britain, 9-1.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Brazil rallied for four runs to take a decisive 10-4 lead.
With the bases loaded and after two pitching changes, a run was scored when Felipe Burin was hit by a pitch.
Two runs were then added on a single by Tiago Magalhães and a grounder by Allan Fanhoni.
The 35-year old Magalães is one of the veterans and most experienced players in the Brazilian team.
He played professionally for four seasons in the organization of the Cincinnati Reds (2000; 2002-2004), mostly at the Rookie League-level.
Magalhães, born in São Paulo, plays for the National Team of Brazil since 2002 and participated in several big events, including the World Championship in 2003 and 2005, the Intercontinental Cup in 2002, the Pan American Games in 2007 and the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
Another veteran in the Brazilian squad is 41-year old Luis Serafin de Camargo, who also has played in the National Team of Italy.
The catcher was 2-for-3 and scored twice in the Final.
This year, he played in the Italian Baseball League for Pirati dei Rimini, for whom he also played six years ago.
With Rimini, he reached the Final of the European Champions Cup-tournament in early June, but the squad then lost 5-4 in ten innings to L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
In the past, De Camargo played professionally at a lower level in Japan.
With the National Team of Brazil, he also participated in the World Championships of 2003 and 2005, but also in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup.
In 2007 and 2009, he played for the National Team of Italy during the World Championship.
| Results XV Campeonato Sudamericano de Béisbol 2016 |
| Day 1 (Nov. 5) | Day 2 (Nov. 6) | Day 3 (Nov. 7) | Day 4 (Nov. 8) |
| Chile vs. Bolivia | 13-3 | Brazil vs. Chile | 21-8 | Brazil vs. Colombia | 7-5 | Brazil vs. Perú | 15-3 |
| Colombia vs. Perú | 9-1 | Bolivia vs. Perú | 4-14 | Perú vs. Chile | 5-4 | Colombia vs. Bolivia | 10-0 |
| Argentina vs. Brazil | 1-9 | Colombia vs. Argentina | 4-0 | Bolivia vs. Argentina | 1-18 | Argentina vs. Chile | 16-0 |
| Day 5 (Nov. 9) | Day 6 (Nov. 10) | Day 7 (Nov. 11) | Day 8 (Nov. 12) |
| Chile vs. Colombia | 6-7 | no games played | Brazil vs. Perú
(Semi-Final) | 12-0 | Colombia vs. Perú
(3rd/4th Place) | 10-0 |
| Bolivia vs. Brazil | 1-19 | Chile vs. Bolivia
(5th/6th Place) | 9-1 | Brazil vs. Argentina
(Final) | 10-4 |
| Perú vs. Argentina | 6-7 | Argentina vs. Colombia
(Semi-Final) | 12-9 (10) | |
(November 14)
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